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Safet was left starved, bruised and shattered by the Bosnian War. Now a refugee in the UK, he has looked for his loved ones over the last 20 years. Today, the war has long passed – but people are going missing once more in the Balkans.

“They came over with heavy artillery tanks and took our town – killing people, burning houses, taking our stuff. The town was almost razed to the ground. They even killed my grandfather, who was 93.”

Safet Alic is remembering the horrific events that unfolded when he was just 21.

A Bosnian Muslim, Safet grew up in a tight-knit community of friends and family, against a backdrop of growing ethnic tensions and economic problems.

When war broke out across the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the civilian population in Bosnia was attacked by armed forces.

Looking back on that day, Safet says: “I consider myself very lucky to have survived.”

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Photographer Conor Ashleigh spent six weeks getting to know refugee families from around the world. They were all split up on long and desperate journeys, before finally reuniting in Glasgow to start their lives over. Now Conor reflects on some of their moving stories and friendships.

Starting a new life in a new country is always difficult. I recently moved to Scotland from Australia.

But, unlike the families I’ve been photographing for a British Red Cross project, I chose to come here.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve spent time with families from Syria, Iran and Sri Lanka. These families didn’t have the freedom to choose between staying at home and leaving for the UK. Nor do they know when, if at all, they can return home. More

STEP ONE

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The weather is turning but for refugees, there is no going back. Many people feel they have no choice but to brave the cold and make the treacherous journey to Europe.

Most of the world’s refugees aren’t in Europe, but those that do head here face long and difficult journeys.

They often travel across multiple countries to get to their destination – places where they already have family or their job skills are needed.

Red Cross volunteers are supporting people in all of the countries they pass through. We’re often the first ones to offer some comfort and help. We’re there in that extraordinary moment as you cross the border: one of fear and elation, exhaustion and hope.

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Amir was living a happy and ordinary life in Sudan. He was married with children and had a good job. But a few years ago, he was forced to flee after being tortured, stabbed and left for dead.

Amir Ali Bob lives in the UK with his wife Wegdan and their five children, aged 5 to 13.

Before fleeing Sudan as refugees, Amir was an obstetrician and Wegdan a GP. They are now doing whatever they can to practise as doctors again – taking exams, improving their English – so they can help the country the family now call home.

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Think your commute’s a bit rough? Well, David has given up trains and buses and now walks the 12-mile journey home after work. But it’s not in protest of public transport – it’s all to raise money for refugees.

David Farrow has a busy, demanding job. For the last four years, he has been working as a medical photographer at Epsom and St Helier hospitals in Surrey.

But after he clocks off work, he now faces a daily challenge before he can go home, eat some dinner and switch on a box set.

Whenever he can, he walks the three-and-a-half hour journey home to where he lives in Reigate.

Why? David is raising money for refugees. He’s doing it by covering the distance someone from Syria would have to walk from Damascus to London, in the anxious search for a safer home.